Pediatric Care Africa’s (PCA) fifth Ride for a Child charity motorcycle ride has raised half a million rand for children in need of medical treatments and operations.
PCA’s founder, Dr André Hattingh, and his team arrived back from the 7 000km charity ride around South Africa on Saturday, accompanied by a convoy of 40 other bikers, at White River Primary during the school’s 120th birthday celebrations.
As well as raising the much-needed funds, which he said amounted to way more than the previous years’ charity rides, PCA was also able to break a world record, which is still in the process of verification, when on Saturday February 24, 2 616 motorcycles rode as one group in staggered formation for a distance of 50km, ending at the Mentors Country Estate in Jeffreys Bay.
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Hattingh said the charity ride and the world record attempt, which should take another two weeks to verify with RecordSetters in America, were a massive success.
He said bikers from across the country, as well as eSwatini, Namibia and the UK, came to participate in the world record attempt. “Seeing that many motorbikes riding in tandem was absolutely spectacular. Any person who participated will remember it for years to come, as the bikes just kept coming and coming and poured into Mentors Country Estate for a day filled with excitement, live entertainment, food stalls and a beer tent,” said Hattingh.
Speaking about the charity ride itself, he said although the PCA had fantastic weather throughout the ride, it was a tough one this year due to very tight schedules. He said there were also very strong winds when the team entered the Western Cape, but despite all this, they managed to stay
on track.
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During the charity ride, he the visited the orphanage, Nazareth House, in Cape Town, a place he has visited on each of his charity rides. This year, he again took some lucky children on a motorbike ride, and handed out gifts and ice creams afterwards. He also visited another orphanage in Upington, as well as a sick boy in Thabazimbi, Limpopo.
Hattingh’s next fundraising charity ride will take place in July this year. He will ride on a tractor for 3 000km, again to raise funds for children in need of medical treatments and surgeries.
